Grady Chairman sees "hate" in battle flag

A tiny Confederate flag is causing quite a bit of concern for some in Grady County.

The flag stands next to a 14-year-old Confederate Veteran monument right in front of the Grady County Courthouse. A flag that the county administrator says was placed by members of an organization honoring Confederate monuments and gravesites.

"I've received text messages, I've received phone calls. When I'm in the stores, people say, 'When are you going to remove that Confederate Flag?'" said LaFaye Copeland, Grady Co. Commission Chairman.

"It reminds me of hate. I don't get a real good feeling of freedom when I look at it," Copeland said.

And since the Charleston shooting that claimed nine lives, Copeland says removing this flag could help prevent racially motivated violence in Grady county.

"I want to do everything I possibly can to keep peace in our county as well as in the South. And if one little simple flag removal will keep that peace, then I'm all for it."

The monument itself has a Confederate Flag engraved, but Chairman Copeland says she has no intention to change that.

"Even though it has it on there, it's so little. I wouldn't want them to remove their monument, no. But this right here is noticeable."

She presented the issue to her fellow commissioners yesterday. Vice Chairman Charlie Norton says he will not comment on the issue, as he has not been contacted by concerned residents.